Welcome to the July Bellatin. Since the last Bellatin, I have experienced a huge range of emotions.

The first was excitement!

I put my heart on my sleeve, and released this ebook. Perhaps you read it? My next emotion was mortification. My original cover (left) was a breech of Facebook 'community standards'. Really!!!This scored me a 3 day ban, which was frustrating and annoying. But mostly perplexing.

A few hours before the ban lifted, I was notified that a second image had been removed from THIS IS YOUR BIRTH.

on the same grounds - nipples are offensive. Now, the facebook community standard do allow artwork, and whilst Mueck's work is incredibly life like...

So then I felt despair. Why bother? When this is what we are up against!

I then posted a musing about the lullaby Rockabye Baby (see below). This resonated with many people, reminding me that I do know things worth sharing. So I felt Hope.

Self doubt seems to be the bane of mothering. Is it an affliction of women? or do men experience this too? Is it simply human?

With THIS IS YOUR BIRTH in it's final stages of development, I feel again like a woman due to birth. So I thought I'd share a beautiful song, sung by my sister, which seems very appropriate at this time.

Much of the last month has been spent updating the website, you may have noticed a new look and be wondering what is going on. Bellabirth is a labour of love. For 6 years now, I have operated the website, facebook page and blogs in the hope that those who find it, are saved the 'trial and error' approach to birth. The time has come for me to take the leap from 'hobby' to 'business'. Over the coming months I will be learning about e-courses and developing an awesome opportunity for those preparing for birth ('re-branding' ahead!). It can be really hard to get to birth preparation classes, so using modern technology to bring them to you is a great solution! So another steep learning curve for me...and you can let any pregnant friends know to watch this space, because the first course will be run at cost (as I iron out the creases).

As promised, I took you for a walk on my property. A walk and a chat about birth songs.

I filmed a video earlier this week, chatting about new research proving that better outcomes come with better preparation (this study focused on 'complementary therapies'). But I had technical difficulties...so that video may not surface. Perhaps you saw that study, it was widely shared on birth pages on facebook. You can read the full study here.

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Catherine is a member of the Doula Network Australia

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